The New York Giants‘ campaign has already gotten under a cloud of doubt, and everyone is looking at their struggling quarterback, Russell Wilson. Once hailed as a Super Bowl winner and franchise hero in Seattle, Wilson’s glory has faded through injuries, spotty protection, and a struggling Giants offense. With leadership and pressure performance being his hallmark, Wilson is now tested by how he can lead an underperforming team through a tough schedule. The game against the Dallas Cowboys next will push Wilson’s skills to the test as much as it will challenge head coach Brian Daboll’s game plan in juggling a roster that has a long way to go.

Chris Simms, a former NFL quarterback turned analyst, shed light on why Wilson might be being set up by Daboll as a “sacrificial lamb” for Dallas. “Number seven’s Russell Wilson, of course I feel like he’s 32. I think he’s in his own tier at number seven… it didn’t look good,” Simms said after the game, on NFL on NBC. “He gives me no hope that way. He misses throws you shouldn’t miss, and there are parts of the field he doesn’t attack.” He was ineffective under pressure in Week 1, completing just 2 of 12 passes for 26 yards with two sacks and two scrambles, which resulted in New York being stalled twice in the red zone.

Simms also pointed out the Giants’ ongoing offensive line issues: Washington produced 22 pressures on 45 dropbacks, five more pressures than the unit had in any other game last season, per Next Gen Stats. “It’s the same old story with the Giants—they can’t block people, and that was an issue once again,” Simms said.

The “sacrificial lamb” label for Wilson comes from Simms’ breakdown of the larger picture. He theorized that if the Giants’ pass protection had been better, rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart might have been played in. Instead, Wilson has to take most of the pressure from Dallas’ stout defensive line. It highlights the fact that Wilson’s position in this game will be risky, offering up opportunities to face heavy pass rushes while the team gets to see what it has in its next-generation quarterback on a more secure footing.

The performance against Washington showed Wilson the stakes. He missed throws, and steady pressure exposed both the quarterback’s deterioration and structural flaws in the Giants’ line. The Dallas game next week becomes crucial: Wilson will have to navigate a tricky defense while Daboll weighs the short-term competitiveness against longer-term plans for developing Dart. Succeeding or failing here could tell a story about Wilson’s season and set the tone for the rest of the Giants’ quarterback depth chart.

The QB decision: Russell Wilson or Jaxson Dart

Jaxson Dart had dazzled through the preseason with composure, precision, and rapid decision-making. There was a sentiment that the Giants needed to make a change to their quarterback for the future and that Dart could be the spark plug for an offense that had been struggling.

Still, Daboll verified that Wilson will start the following game. “Once again, as I stated yesterday, that game does not fall on Russell Wilson. We need to do a better job as a whole, coaching, playing, but Russ will be our starter,” Daboll clarified. The move is a tightrope walk: safeguarding Dart’s development and self-confidence while being competitive against one of the league’s most challenging defenses.

By keeping Wilson contained under center, Daboll is protecting Dart from being thrust into a hostile situation too early. The experienced quarterback is the buffer, absorbing the Cowboys’ pass rush while the rookie gets more time to adjust to NFL speed. For the Giants, it’s a realistic strategy: reduce risk to the young prospect, have some continuity on offense, and evaluate how Wilson handles heat before making any transition.

Short-term performance versus long-term planning is never a comfortable equation, and this week’s game at Dallas will be a true test of both Wilson’s resilience and Daboll’s strategic vision. The Giants’ line, the quarterback’s technique, and the coaching staff’s capacity to adjust will all be key in deciding the future of the Giants’ quarterback.